April 20, 2006

Thank You

Thank you to the woman who chased me for more than a block on this 80°(F) New York City day, just to return the envelope she thought she'd seen me drop. She had, and it contained my pay stub. I had headphones plugged into my ears—they're hard to see—and I was blithely listening to them as I walked to my train. She'd probably been trying to get my attention the whole time, getting more and more frustrated, but she showed no sign of this when she caught up with me. Reminder to self: people are often very kind.

April 02, 2006

Corvus brachyrhynchos

I took my son to the zoo today, our first trip this year to a place we routinely visited last year. He was scared of the Sardinian donkey, but riveted by the mountain lion. Go figure.

Certain of the animals are not yet in their outdoor enclosures because hey, it's not supposed to be this warm yet. Zoo admission was free today so this was no problem. But I was surprised to find a new occupant in the little gazebo that usually holds some type of cold-intolerant owl. A large, black occupant who attracted our attention by caw loudly. There was a label on his enclosure, oh yes. A label printed in an office on a sheet of 8½ by 11 inch paper, laminated, which read "Common Crow Corvus brachyrhynchos." I had the sudden feeling that the poor fellow had just flown in there one day and found himself trapped inside, the latest attraction. At least it won him a good food supply for the winter.